Today is a hol­i­day in Canada — Victoria Day.

Nowadays, as Canadians head to their vaca­tion cot­tages, pic­nic on the beach, or fire up the back­yard bar­be­cues, the hol­i­day is more about the start of sum­mer than it is about the Queen’s birth­day. But it was orig­i­nally cre­ated to cel­e­brate the May 24 birth­day of Britain’s Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria, who gov­erned from 1837 until her death in 1901, was the rul­ing monarch at the time of Canadian Confederation — when Canada became a nation in 1867. Since 1952, Canada has cel­e­brated Victoria’s birth­day on the Monday before May 25, and in 1957, Victoria Day became the offi­cial day to cel­e­brate the sovereign’s birth­day in Canada.

As a Commonwealth coun­try, Canada still has a queen, cur­rently Queen Elizabeth II. Although Elizabeth’s actual birth­day is April 21, it’s hon­ored on Victoria Day.

So head for the beach today, and wher­ever you are, offer a birth­day toast to the queen!

Photo ©Carolyn B. Heller